Controlling device for elevators



a av h 8 P m e h 8 2 S D L 0 Y E R R Q (NoModeL) CONTROLLING DEVICE FORELEVATORS.

No. 458,917. Patented Sept. 1, 1891.

Ma e za.

(No Model.) Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. H."REYNOLDS. CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

Patented Sept. 1, 1891.

In M L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE II. REYNOLDS, OF NE\V YORK, LT. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO THE NATIONAL COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458E917, datedSeptember 1, 1891.

Original application filed January 26, 1887- Serial No. 225,538. Dividedand this application filed June 29, 1887. Serial No.

(No model.)

To crZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REYNOLDS, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful I1n provelnents inMeans for Controlling the Operation of Elevators, of which the followingis a full specification.

My invention relates to that class of valveoperating gears in whichcables running with the car are employed and especially to those devicesin which both ends of each cable are fastened to the car.

My invention consists in the means for supporting the cables, so as toprovide for maintaining a constant tension upon them notwithstandingvariations in their lengths; and it further consists in the parts andcombinations hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of an elevator-ear, thecontrol-cables, and their connections. Fig. 2 shows a modification ofthe construction shown in Fig.1. Figs. 3 and 4 are side and plan views,respectively, which show a compact and preferable arrangement of thecontrol-cables. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the construction shown inFig. 1. Fig. (3 is a back view of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a crosssection ofpulleys F F, Fig. 3, showing also some of their connections; and Fig. 8is a view from the left side of Fig.

A, Fig. 1,is an elevator-carsuspended from the hoisting-rope B, whichpasses over the sheave O to the hoisting-engine, which may be of anykindelectric, steam, or hydraulic.

Asinyinvention is adaptable to any kind of engine and control device,and as it is easily understood without showing the engine and device,these, together with other parts of the elevator not related to myinvention, are omitted.

E E are the control-cables, each secured at one end to the car-bodythrough the piece T or in any convenient way and at the other end to thetake-up devicein this case a pivoted lever L, carried by the car. Thecables E E pass around sheaves G G on the ends of the lever II, which ispivoted at I, and around sheaves F, located at the other end of theelevatonsh aft. But one of the sheaves F is seen in the drawings, theother being immediately behind it. The upper ends of the cables arenumbered 1 and 2 to show their course around the pulleys F F. Thepulleys F F are attached to a lever U, having its fulcrum at u, andprovided with a weight M. The weight M is made adjustable on the leverl', so as to adapt the strain upon the pulleys F F to the weight andlength of the cables E E and to the power needed for operating thevalve. The controlvalve is connected to the arm 71, of lever II by therod K. It is to be understood, however, that the use of the lever II orof the particular take-up device L is not necessary to inyinvention, theessential feature of which is the adaptation of the yielding pulleys Fto the cables E to preserve their tension. The location of thetensionpulleys either in the top or bottom of the elevator-shaft issimply a matter of convenience. They are shown in the top of the shaft,as that is usually the preferable position; butin some cases it might bepreferable to locate them in the bottom of the shaft-e. 9., if the leverII were located in the top of the shaft, as in Fig. 4 of the applicationfiled contemporaneously herewith and numbered 242,858.

It is obvious that if the tensionpulleys were located in the bottom ofthe shaft, then the fulcrum a would be placed at the extremityof 8olever I, and the pulleys F F would be placed between the fulcrum u andthe weight M.

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description.Any movement of the lever L upon the car will produce a correspondingmovement of the lever H through the shortening of the bight of one cableE and the lengthening of the bight of the other cable. The lever H,through its connections, will shift the control-valve. Thetension-pulleys F F will take up all slack which might otherwise produceinaccuracy in the working of the apparatus, and will also yield ifmoisture or cold should cause shrinkage of the cables.

Fig. 2 differs from Fig. l in the substitution of a pulley R and rope Rfor connecting the weight M and pulleys F F.

Figs. 3 and a show the controlcables, &c., as theyare arrangedinpractice. The sheaves I00 G G are placed obliquely to the side of thecar, the ends of lever H being bent for that purpose. A portion of bothsheaves G G appears in Fig.- 4, but only one sheave G and ca ble E showin Fig. 3, the other sheave and cable being directly behind them.

Fig. 8 shows both cables E E and pulleys G G. The outer or farther edgesof the sheaves G G are beneath the car in line With the arm Z of leverL. The inner edges of the sheaves G G project beyond the side a of thecar. The sheaves F F are placed at right angles to the side a of thecar. The cables pass from the ends of the cross-arm of the lever L tothe outer edges of sheaves G G, thence upward on' the inner edges ofsheaves G G to the sheaves FF and to the car. The cables are thusbrought as close together as may be desired, and the length of thecross-arm Z Z of lever L and of lever H may be determined Withoutreference to the Width of the car. This arrangement of pulleys G G andof the pulleys F F, eitheror both, is applicable to other devicesemploying running cables, such as are shown in Patent No. 317,202,granted to me May 5, 1885, and those shown in the other applicationsfiled contemporaneously herewith and serially numbered 242,858, 242,862,and 2i3,69l.

If the pulleys G G were set obliquely but parallel to each other, theadvantage of leading the cables to clear the side of the car would begained, but they Would not be brought nearer to each other, and hencethis arrangement would generally not be so desir able, though, perhaps,preferable in special cases. By this combination, with the cable thatoperates the stopping and starting de vice of a yielding supportcounterweighted as set forth any slack resulting from use or temperatureis at once taken up, so that the cables are maintained taut.

I claim 1. The combination of a cage, two operating-cables connected totravel with the cage, supports for the cables, and a counter-Weight forthe supports, all substantially as described.

2. In an elevator-control mechanism having two control-cables attachedto and running with the car, in combination with yieldingly-supportedpulleys, as F F, adapted to rise and fall together, substantially asdescribed.

' 3. In a cable-operating mechanism for elevators comprising twocontrol-cables attached to the car, a Weighted lever having sheaves overwhich the cables run for regulating and maintaining the tension of thecables, substantially as shown and described.

4. In an elevator-valve-operating mechanism, a pivoted lever connectedWith the control-valve, having sheaves set upon said lever obliquely tothe plane of the side of the car, as and for the purpose set forth.

GEO. l-l. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses:

J. H. RAYMOND, J. I. VEEDER.

